Zimbabwe ratified the Treaty for the establishment of the African Medicines Agency (AMA) at the end of August and deposited the instrument of accession to the Commission of the African Union (AU) on Friday in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Mr Sabelo Mbokazi, head of labor, employment and migration, at the Health, Humanitarian Affairs and Social Development (HHS) Directorate, on behalf of the African Union Commission received the instrument from the Zimbabwe delegation.
Speaking during the official deposit, Zimbabwe’s Ambassador to Ethiopia and the African Union Mr Taonga Mushayavanhu noted that the deposit will add to the number of deposits required to meet the expected target of 15 deposits for the Treaty to come into force.
“Zimbabwe is looking forward to the operationalisation of AMA and to contribute to the important role that the Agency will play in the standardisation and regulation of medicines and medical products in the continent,” the Ambassador Mushayavanhu said.
The ratification and deposit of the instrument follows a high-level advocacy engagement between President Emmerson Mnangagwa and Dr Michel Sidibé the African Union Special Envoy for the AMA on May 18, 2021 in Harare.
The Agency’s main function will be to promote the use of quality assured, safe and efficacious medicines, medical products and medical technologies in Africa.
AMA will also monitor the medicines market through the collection of samples in every state party to ensure the quality of selected drugs, have them analysed and provide the results to state parties and other interested parties, who will thus have reliable information on the quality of the drugs circulating in their countries and, where necessary, will take appropriate measures.
17 member states have ratified the AMA Treaty and 12 of these have deposited the instruments of ratification to the Commission.
The AMA Treaty will enter into Force 30 days upon the deposit of the 15th instrument of ratification at the Commission.
Pending the deposit of the 15th instrument of ratification, the Commission has invited member states to submit proposals for the hosting of the Africa Medicines Agency Headquarters.
The Commission has also further extended the deadline for submission of interest to host the AMA up to 15th October 2021 per the ruling of the PRC on 6th September 2021.
The Commission expects to have the establishment and operationalisation of the AMA in full progress in 2022.
The African Union Commission encourages all its member states to sign and ratify the Treaty for the establishment of AMA in the interest of public health, safety and security.